Brian McTaggart, 54, who will not be eligible for parole for eight years, carried out a series of horrific rapes, violent assaults and sexual abuse on 18 victims across a range of addresses in Dundee between 1980 and 2001.

The High Court in Glasgow was told McTaggart had raped a woman more than 900 times during their 10-year-marriage.

McTaggart was also given a lifelong restriction order.

The court heard he dropped a hairdryer into one woman’s bath and kicked her down a flight of stairs.

Another rape victim was choked and had her head forced under water.

A third woman was raped on four occasions as she slept and, despite waking up and protesting, McTaggart carried on abusing her.

He also indecently assaulted teenage girls and boys as well as physically abusing women and teenagers.

Jurors found McTaggart guilty of sexual and physical abuse in Dundee between 1980 and 2001 last year.

Not proven verdicts were returned for charges of raping a fourth woman and raping a 30-year-old man.

Judge Lord Mulholland told McTaggart on Thursday: “There are 18 victims in total. This catalogue of offending took place over a quarter of a century.

“You said in evidence that you gave many of the victims a hard life. Quite frankly, that is a gross understatement.

“You treated your former partners and wives as chattels and punchbags. You beat them into submission. It is now time for you to be sentenced for your crimes.”

Detective Inspector Muriel Fuller of the Police Scotland’s Domestic Abuse Task Force said : “Today, McTaggart is finally being held to account for his actions.

“The result today would not have been possible without the assistance and bravery of McTaggart’s previous partners, children and others who suffered at his hands. I would like to take this opportunity to thank them for their bravery which ultimately led to bringing him to justice today.

“The sentencing follows a lengthy investigation by the Domestic Abuse Task Force, which began in March 2016.

“This was a complex and protracted case which involved a large team of specialist officers carrying out enquiries across Scotland and the north of England. The full extent and appalling nature of McTaggart’s offending became apparent during the course of the investigation.”

In the third and final part of our series, Michael Alexander speaks to politicians about how they handled the devastating closure of Michelin in Ballymena, Northern Ireland, and asks whether there’s anything Dundee – now facing a similar plant closure in 2020 – can learn.

In the second of a special three-part series, Michael Alexander visits the former Michelin site in Ballymena, Northern Ireland, and speaks to local traders about the impact the closure there is having on high street businesses.

In the first of a special three-part series following the announcement that the Dundee Michelin plant faces closure in 2020, Michael Alexander visited Ballymena in Northern Ireland to find out how the community there is coping with the recent closure of their Michelin factory which led to the loss of 840 highly skilled jobs.

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